Stockholm is no stranger to elite show jumping competition, but the Swedish capital will welcome the Longines Global Champions Tour for the first time this weekend for the eighth stop on its worldwide calendar.
The LGCT and Global Champions League team event will take place in the city’s Olympic Stadium and add another layer to Stockholm’s rich equestrian heritage after hosting the Olympics in 1912 and 1956 and the World Equestrian Games in 1990.
Swede Peder Fredricson will lead the home charge, while Briton Ben Maher will be looking to make a decisive surge up the leaderboard as he seeks to defend last year’s overall LGCT title.
Maher is the highest-ranked rider competing in Stockholm at fifth in the standings behind leader Daniel Deusser, Pieter Devos, Niels Bruynseels and Maikel van der Vleuten.
READ: Global Champions 2019: Schedule and results
Five-time Olympic medalist Ludger Beerbaum will also be in action alongside fellow Olympians such as Edwina Tops-Alexander, Scott Brash, Michael Whitaker, Nicola Philippaerts and Jerome Guery.
In the GCL, the Shanghai Swans will be looking to defend their eight-point lead over Miami Celtics with a further point back to St. Tropez Pirates back in third.
Stockholm joins New York and Montreal as three brand new venues for the expanded 2019 GCT circuit, which incorporates 20 stops.
It’s the fourth leg of the Tour’s 13-stop European swing before heading back across the Atlantic to Montreal, Canada and then on to New York ahead of the GC Prague Playoffs from November 21-24.